A really good read-aloud story, with great rhythm, rhyme and repetitive elements. My son is 16 months old, and Room on the Broom is currently his second favourite book - he goes and gets it himself from his book shelf most days, which is really cute. Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my BEDTIME STORIES list. The broom broke when the frog “jumped for joy.” Was it the frog’s fault that the broom broke? Who’s fault was it?

I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. The rhymes are wonderful and the characters are lovable. The TV show is so well done that it outshines the book a bit, at least for someone who saw that first and read the book later. They adapted the show faithfully to the work and it fills in many gaps. Still, everything is here in the story, accept that the cat does not want the other animals on the broom. That was added for the show. But the glee of the witch is here with her loyal animals. Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.All of the animals in the story help the witch. Students can have discussions about why we help others. Why did the animals return the witch’s belongings? It could be that the animals care for the well-being of the witch. Or could it be that the animals have a self-interest to go on the broom? Could it be both? Is one reason better or worse as motivation to help others? The witch is grateful to the animals for saving her life. Think of things that you are grateful for. How could you say ‘thank you’ for these? And you can never get them started on fantasy too young - good witches and bad dragons - perfect! We'll get him reading Tolkien before he's ten... Read the description of the ‘horrible beast’ that rises from the ditch and use it to draw the creature. Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler raises questions about what it means to be a friend, helping others, and teamwork. Throughout the story, many different animals help the witch collect items that she has lost. In return, she makes room for them on her broom. At the end of the book, the animals must unite and work together to save the witch from the mean dragon.

One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. At the end of the story, the animals unite to save the witch from the mean dragon. Why did they do this and what made them successful? What does it mean to work on a team? What makes a good team? Questions for Philosophical Discussion Friendship I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).

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Why did the witch let the animals on her broom? Would you have made room on the broom for the animals? Admittedly his favourite book in the whole wide world is a bland little story about monkeys - but it does have a button which makes monkey noises when you press it, so I can see the appeal! Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers. Anyone with small children (and older ones too, I'm sure) will be familiar with Julia Donaldson, in particular The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which - along with Room on the Broom - have been made into animated films that regularly show on the ABC. My son, at three, enjoys the books but finds the movies too scary - he's still young like that. If the animals knew that the witch could not make room on her broom for them, do you think they still would have helped her?

If the animals only helped the witch because they wanted something in return, does this make it a selfish act? I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. Peter Fogarty has kindly contributed a set of Thinking Hat resources linked to the book (see Resources below). How is the witch in this story different from the other witches you’ve seen? Would you want to be friends with her?The witch eventually makes room on the broom for a cat, dog, bird, and frog. Are all of these characters considered friends? Students can discuss what makes people friends. Would you have made friends with the witch? How do you treat your friends? Further, because the witch allows everyone on her broom, it snaps in two. Students can consider why the witch continued to make room on her broom when there wasn’t really room. Noisy books aside, this is the best. He likes to point at the witch and the cat and the dog and the bird and the frog. He likes to mimic the dramatic, booming, Brian Blessed-esque voice I used for the ' down came the broom' line, around which each verse hinges.

Questions for Philosophical Discussion » Summary Room on the Broom considers questions about friendship, helping others, and teamwork. My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.The dog, cat, frog, and bird all contributed to the statue to scare off the dragon. Would it have mattered if the frog had refused to help? I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.